I am the cook in the family and, as such, responsible for creating delicious suppers 7 days a week. I do like cooking but, sometimes I want to take a break and go out for dinner. Other times, I want a break but am happy to stay home in my ‘comfies’ and have the equivalent of a home cooked dinner but cooked by someone else. Where we live, if we want something delicious, ‘take out’ is not really an option and ready meals from the supermarket fill a hole but, just don’t give you that home cooked comfort. So, when @gomezadams and I are out and about visiting farmers markets and food festivals, I always look for something that is as good as my home cooking (or better!) that I can pop in my freezer and simply heat up when I want someone to cook for me .

This weekend we went to the West Wales Food Festival at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales, nr Carmarthen. This is a food festival that I enjoy, as many of the producers are from West Wales and do not frequent the farmers markets we go to in Brecon, Usk, Abergavenny and Undy. One of the stallholders this year was The Little Welsh Deli which is the business of Clare and Ryan Phillips. Clare was a nurse who gave it up and is now living her dream by running her own foodie business.

I stopped to have a bite of a cheese pasty that was cut up for people to try. Her Cheese Plus pasty was exceptional. The first thing that hit me was the tenderness of her pastry and this was followed by the flavoursome cheese filling. The pasty was filled with mature welsh cheddar plus spring onions, crushed new potatoes, crème fraiche, wholegrain and Dijon mustard. The cheese filling was delicate but mouth-watering. This is exactly what I am looking for when I want to eat at home but not cook.

All of her pasties are handmade and I wish I had bought more as the cheese pasties we did buy never made it to the freezer! Doh!

We also bought a few of her cakes and divine, to die for, sticky toffee pudding. I highly recommend that you look out for The Little Welsh Deli. If you visit her website you can see which farmers markets and festivals she will be attending this year! Clare is also on twitter @littlewelshdeli